In 2006, Mexico and Liechtenstein jointly requested the inclusion of an item entitled “The rule of law at the national and international levels” in the agenda of the General Assembly. Since then, much progress has been made. We applaud the hard work of the United Nations Rule of Law Coordination and…
Liechtenstein strongly condemns all acts of terrorism, irrespective of their motivation and wherever and by whomsoever committed. We also reaffirm our commitment to contribute to the fullest extent to the international fight against terrorism in all its aspects, including through cooperation with th…
We would like to thank the Secretary-General for his report (S/2012/376), which once again makes for a sobering read. The abysmal state of the protection of civilians is, of course, first and foremost the responsibility of the parties to a conflict, including non-State armed groups. But it is also c…
Liechtenstein considers the treaty body system to be one of the most important achievements of the United Nations human rights system. We have engaged actively and constructively in efforts to strengthen that system in the framework of the multi-stakeholder process initiated by the United Nations Hi…
We welcome the President’s decision to convene today’s meeting and thank the High Commissioner for her briefing on the latest developments in Syria. This meeting is an important opportunity to signal to the Syrian people that their suffering will not go unnoticed or unsanctioned at the United Nation…
The year 2012 may well become the year of the rule of law at the United Nations, not least because of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to be held in September. It is gratifying to see that the Security Council pays corresponding attention.
We agree that the Security Council is playing…
We welcome the latest report of the Secretary-General (S/2011/772*) on the situation in Afghanistan, and would like to thank Special Representative Staffan de Mistura for his service. We would also particularly like to congratulate Mr. Ján Kubiš on taking on this challenging position and pledge our …
We are very pleased to participate in the first General Assembly debate on global governance under its own agenda item. The
intense discussions in and outside the United Nations on this topic certainly warrant a debate. In times of acute risks to the world economy, we are witnessing the decision-ma…
The Secretary- General’s report on innovative mechanisms of financing for development (A/66/334) underlines that new resources are needed to complement traditional official development assistance (ODA), in particular in the areas of health, climate change and the environment. In that context, the Li…
As a member of the group of five small nations (S-5), we align ourselves with the statement delivered earlier by the Permanent Representative of Switzerland. I will focus my comments on two specific parts of the revised draft General Assembly resolution that we circulated earlier this year.
First, …
I would like to speak on behalf of the European Free Trade Association member States Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to briefly put on record our understanding of the resolution we have just adopted.
Paragraph 8 of resolution 60/251, on the establishment of the Human Rights Council, …
My delegation associates itself with the statement made by the representative of Singapore, who spoke on behalf of the group of five small nations (S-5) earlier this afternoon.
We are entering the eighteenth year of our collective effort to reform the Security Council. Much has happened during thos…
We welcome this debate as a critical opportunity for communication between the Security Council and the Member States. We appreciate the efforts made by the delegation of Germany in producing the annual report (A/66/2), and we thank the representative of Portugal for presenting it to the Assembly th…
It is a pleasure to see you, Madam President, preside over this meeting. I would like to thank you for convening it. We welcome the latest report of the Secretary-General (S/2011/598*), which for the first time measures the progress of implementing resolution 1325 (2000) against specific indicators.…
I would like to thank the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for presenting another rich report on the activities of the Court (A/66/309). The Court continues to have a profound impact in several conflict and post- conflict situations in furtherance of its mandate to fight impunity,…
It is a great honour to again address this Assembly, especially at the first general debate ever opened by a woman. What an inspiration! This debate has already proven that the General Assembly can indeed play a central role in multilateral diplomacy, in particular at this time of great change and t…
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have substantial negative impacts on human health and development. Demographic trends such as ageing, rapid and unplanned urbanization and the globalization of unhealthy lifestyles only point to a rise in NCD incidence in the future.
NCDs now impose their greatest b…
I would like to thank the President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Dupuy Lasserre, for her comprehensive report to the General Assembly on the work of the Council (A/66/53 and A/66/53/Add.1). She has presented the report on a successful year for the Council, which has, moreover, undergone a…
For over three decades, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has caused immense suffering in countries and communities throughout the world and has had a devastating impact on development and human rights. Ten years after the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (resolution S-26/2) and five years after the 2…
The Council has taken important decisions on the topic of protection of civilians in armed conflict, in particular resolutions 1265 (1999) and 1894 (2009). As in other thematic areas, however, it has struggled with the application of the provisions and principles of its thematic decisions when deali…
